111111 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 US006701523Bl (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 6,701,523 Bl Hancock et ai. (45) Date of Patent: Mar. 2,2004 (54) V-CHIP PLUS+IN-GUIDE USER INTERFACE 5,583,576 A 12/1996 Perlman et al. APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR 5,610,653 A 3/1997 Abecassis PROGRAMMABLE BLOCKING OF (List continued on next page.) TELEVISION AND OTHER VIEWABLE PROGRAMMING, SUCH AS FOR PARENTAL FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS CONTROL OF A TELEVISION RECEIVER WO WO 97/46016 12/1997 (75) Inventors: Kenneth Hancock, Mashua, NH (US); Thomas Ward, Bedford, MA (US); OTHER PUBLICATIONS Douglas Macrae, Weston, MA (US); Tony Atherton; Living with the V-chip; Entertainment, The Jacques Hugon, Bedford, MA (US) Ottawa Citizen, Sunday, Mar. 9, 1996, pp. F1-F2, Section F, Ottawa, Canada. (73) Assignee: Index Systems, Inc., Tortola (VG) Glen Dickson, How's it Work? The V--chip is based on ( *) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this Closed-captioning Technology, Boradcasting & Cable, Feb. patent is extended or adjusted under 35 12, 1996, p. 24. U.S.c. 154(b) by 0 days. John Urquhart, Canada Orders TV Industry to Devise Rating System for Use With the V-Chip, The Wall Street Journal, (21) Appl. No.: 09/398,963 Friday Mar. 15, 1996, A7C, USA. Statute, Sec. 551. Parental Choice In Television Program­ (22) Filed: Sep. 16, 1999 ming. Related U.S. Application Data Primary Examiner-John Miller (60) Provisional application No. 60/100,575, filed on Sep. 16, 1998. Assistant Examiner-Michael W. Hoye (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Christie, Parker & Hale, (51) Int. CI? .......................... H04N 7/16; H04N 5/445; LLP G06F 3/00; G06F 13/00 (57) ABSTRACT (52) U.S. CI. ............................. 725/25; 725/27; 725/28; 725/30; 725/44; 725/45; 725/46 A system for restricting access to television programs com­ (58) Field of Search .............................. 725/25, 27, 28, prising an input for accepting cursor movement and selec­ 725/30, 44, 45, 46 tion commands. The system includes a display that depicts a two dimensional matrix composed of rows and columns of (56) References Cited tiles, wherein either the rows of tiles or the columns of tiles correspond to overall program ratings and either the rows of U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS tiles or the columns of tiles correspond to specific program 4,896,354 A 1/1990 Inagaki et al. content indications and depicts highlighting of individual 4,930,160 A 5/1990 Vogel tiles or groups of tiles based on the cursor movement 5,045,947 A 9/1991 Beery commands. The system further includes means for blocking 5,068,734 A 11/1991 Beery or allowing viewing of television programs based on the 5,335,079 A 8/1994 Yuen et al. overall program ratings and specific content ratings of the 5,382,983 A 1/1995 Kwoh et al. rows and columns corresponding the highlighted tiles when 5,465,113 A 11/1995 Gilboy a selection command is entered into the input. 5,485,518 A 1/1996 Hunter et al. 5,548,345 A 8/1996 Brian et al. 5,550,575 A 8/1996 West et al. 13 Claims, 26 Drawing Sheets BLOCK CLEAR GUIDEPLUS+ I PIP WINDOW I HELP TEXT SORT SCHEDULE ~~.vCHI~~ MESSAGES FOR USER' #1 KIDS MASTER PASSWORD:( ) TV AD WINDOW 1 RATING~T CODE S L V 0 114 CODE - TV-Y TV-Y7 TV-G 1 110 • TV PG TV AD WINDOW 2 TV-14~ '---100 '---102 TV-W;W;; UNRATED~ 112,--, US 6,701,523 Bl Page 2 U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 5,973,683 A * 10/1999 Cragun et al. .............. 345/719 6,037,969 A * 3/2000 Lim et al. ................... 380/221 5,619,653 A * 4/1997 Kawauchi ................... 709/213 6,072,520 A 6/2000 Yuen et al. 5,710,815 A * 1/1998 Ming et al. ................. 380/241 5,828,402 A 10/1998 Collings 5,969,748 A 10/1999 Casement et al. * cited by examiner •d rJl FIG.t • ~ .....~ ~ G-CODE ..... COMMAND = COMMAND CDTL G-CODE SIGNAL I 58 CONTROLLER DECODER 56 11 RECEIVER 1 CABLE ~ ~ CH.SIGNAL :"l 1 ~N 1 N C C ~ i IC®ITPC 1 NORMAL 'JJ. ~~ ~-----, ~~G-CODE r-----..L..----, ~=­ 7 II 8 9 I 1 TELETEXT .....~ ON 1 DECODER '""" 4 "5 6 I AND o....., : STORAGE N 1 "2 3 I 0'1 L II 0 v I 1 L _______ _ ~ ICABLE CHI [ -- -I L 52 I SET II MENU I e <10[> \Jl PROGRAM TPC -..CJ\ I II I -.....l V Q I POWER II ENTER I i-o" ~ 1J. N ~ ~ i-o" •d rJl FIC.2 • ~ BLUE GREEN GUIDEPLUS+1 .....~ ~ .....= PIP WINDOW V-CHIP PLUS+ HELP TEXT ~ ~ :"l N ~ SORT I SCHEDULE VCHIP+ I MESSAGES I N C C ~ 'JJ. ~=­ TV AD WINDOW 1 GLOBAL BLOCK/UNBLOCK .....~ N ....,o N ~}JiM~W~ 0'1 BY CHANNEL~ BY' TI'M'E' i~\LLoWANCE BY $ ALLOWANCE~ e TV AD WINDOW 2 SET PASSWORDS~ rJ'l -..CJ\ ""-l Q i-o" 1J. N ~ ~ i-o" •d rJl FIG. 3 • BLUE GREEN GUIDEPLUS+I ~ .....~ ~ .....= PIP WINDOW HELP TEXT ~ ~ :"l SORT I SCHEDULE v/hVCHIP+/~ MESSAGES ~N N C C ~ TV AD WINDOW 1 'JJ. GLOBAL BLOCK/UNBLOCK ~=­ .....~ ~ o...., N ~'~'~iYi_ 0'1 BY' TI'M'E' 'AL'LOWAN/CE BY $ ALLOWANCE~ TV AD WINDOW 2 e rJ'l -..CJ\ ""-l Q I--" 1J. N ~ ~ I--" •d rJl FIG. 4 • FINISHED CLEAR GUIDEPLUS+I ~ .....~ ~ .....= PIP WINDOW HELP TEXT ~ ~ :"l SORT I SCHEDULE V/ hVCHIP+/h1 MESSAGES ~N N C C ~ DEFAULT USER PASSWORD CONFIRM TV AD WINDOW 1 'JJ. /MASTER ~=- .....~ X'l///;# 1 KIDS ~ 0...., N #2 BAM BAM 0'1 ~#3 PEBBLES' /#4 WILMA~' e TV AD WINDOW 2 ~///~rflll \Jl -..CJ\ ""-l Q I--" #8 1J. d N ~ ~ I--" •d rJl FIG. 5 • CHANGE CLEAR GUIDEPLUS+I ~ .....~ ~ .....= PIP WINDOW HELP TEXT ~ ~ :"l SORT I SCHEDULE ~~VCHIP+/hi MESSAGES I ~N cN C ~ USER CONFIRM TV AD WINDOW 1 'JJ. /MASTER ~=- .....~ #1 KIDS Ul 0...., #2 BAM BAM N #3 PEBBLES' 0'1 #4 WILMA~ #5 FRED/ ~ TV AD WINDOW 2 e ~~~_ rJ'l -..CJ\ ""-l Q I--" 1J. N ~ ~ I--" •d rJl FIG. 6 • BLUE GREEN GUIDEPLUS+I ~ .....~ ~ .....= PIP WINDOW HELP TEXT ~ ~ :"l ~N I SORT SCHEDULE f0///VCHIP+/ ~ MESSAGES N C C ~ 'JJ. TV AD WINDOW 1 ~=­ GLOBAL BLOCK/UNBLOCK .....~ 0'1 ....,o N rffl_ 0'1 BY' TI'M'[' 'ALLoWANCE BY $ ALLOWANCE~ e TV AD WINDOW 2 rJ'l SET PASSWORDS~ -..CJ\ ""-l Q I--" 1J. N ~ ~ I--" •d rJl FIG. 7 • BLOCK CLEAR GUIDEPLUS+ ~ .....~ ~ .....= PIP WINDOW HELP TEXT ~ ~ :"l SORT SCHEDULE I'i"hVCHIP+/ ~ MESSAGES ~N N C FOR USER C <~t .KID~) ~ MASTER PASSWORD: ~~ TV AD WINDOW 1 'JJ. ~=­ .....~ -..J TV-Y////AU o...., N '//////~~/~ // 0'1 TV-Y7~B //////~ TV-G L ///// ~/ TV-14//V ////////;:;/ TV AD WINDOW 2 TV-MA//D e rJ'l -..CJ\ ""-l Q I--" 1J. N ~ ~ I--" •~ rJJ. FIG. 8 • BLUE GREEN GUIDEPLUS+I ~ .....~ ~ .....= PIP WINDOW V-CHIP PLUS+ HELP TEXT ~ ~ :-'l SORT I SCHEDULE I VCHIP+ I MESSAGES I ~N N C C ~ / TV AD WINDOW 1 'JJ. BLOCK/UNBLOCK ~=­ .....~ 00 ....,o ~{'~j~I~W~ N BY CHANNEL~ 0'1 /BY' TI'ME "ALLoWANCE BY $ ALLOWANCE% TV AD WINDOW 2 SET e PASSWORDS~ rJ'l -..CJ\ ""-l Q I--" 1J. N ~ ~ I--" •d rJl FIG. 9 • ~ BLUE GREEN GUIDEPLUS+! .....~ ~ .....= PIP WINDOW HELP TEXT ~ ~ :"l ~N SORT SCHEDULE hVCHIP+/.01 MESSAGES N I f'l' c C ~ 'JJ. ~=­ TV AD WINDOW 1 GLOBAL BLOCK/UNBLOCK .....~ \C o...., N 0'1 BY'W~ TI'ME' 'ALLoWANCE BY $ ALLOWANCE~ TV AD WINDOW 2 e SET PASSWORDS~ rJ'l -..CJ\ ""-l Q I--" 1J. N ~ ~ I--" •d rJl FIG. • to ~ AM/PM CLEAR GUIDEPLUS+ .....~ ~ .....= PIP WINDOW HELP TEXT ~ ~ :"l SORT SCHEDULE ~~VCHIP////i MESSAGES ~N N C C FOR USER: ( #2 BAM BAM ) ~ MASTER PASSWORD:~~~~ 'JJ. TV AD WINDOW 1 ~=­ .....~ c'""'" o...., N 0'1 FROM: 8:00 PM ////// TO: 7:00// "-----_"--"----<-~:.....<:J TV AD WINDOW 2 e rJ'l -..CJ\ ""-l Q I--" 1J. N ~ ~ I--" •d rJl FIC.tt • BLUE GREEN GUIDEPLUS+I ~ .....~ ~ .....= PIP WINDOW V-CHIP PLUS+ HELP TEXT ~ ~ SORT I SCHEDULE I VCHIP+ I MESSAGES I :-'l ~N N C C ~ TV AD WINDOW 1 GLOBAL BLOCK/UNBLOCK 'JJ. ~=­ .....~ '""'" o....,'""'" N ~~'~~1_ 0'1 BY' TI'M'E' 'ALLoWANCE BY $ ALLOWANCE% TV AD WINDOW 2 SET PASSWOROS~ e /: rJ'l -..CJ\ ""-l Q I--" 1J. N ~ ~ I--" •d FIG. 12 rJl • BLUE GREEN GUIDEPLUS+I ~ .....~ ~ .....= PIP WINDOW HELP TEXT ~ ~ :"l SORT SCHEDULE ~~VCHIP_+:m MESSAGES ~N N C C ~ 'JJ. TV AD WINDOW 1 I ~=- ~GLOBAL BLOCK/UNBLOCK .....~ '""'"N ....,0 N 0'1 BY~~ TIME ALLOWANCE BY $ ALLOWANC~ e TV AD WINDOW 2 I rJ'l ~SET PASSWORDS/~ -..CJ\ ""-l Q I--" 1J. N ~ ~ I--" •d rJl FIG. 13 • ~ BLOCK CLEAR GUIDEPLUS+ .....~ ~ .....= PIP WINDOW HELP TEXT ~ ~ :"l ~N SORT SCHEDULE MESSAGES N C C ~ FOR USER: MASTER PASSWORD: 'JJ. TV AD WINDOW 1 ~=­ .....~ ~'""'" o...., ~~~~fs%1~'2:·~~~.~·~j~g~N~8~~~ N 0'1 f----------il ,CHILDREWCBS. 7~PBS.44/:D~~HB02 Ppv~~~g~Jf~~~I*~~~~I........ ~ .... ;W~.;i% .. ... FOX.1~ElCL ~ESPN~Iy1:rv e TV AD WINDOW 2 rJ'l f;J,E?~,. 7~~Rl)YS0fQQP,%NI~~ -..CJ\ ""-l NBC.14~TOON/~HGTV%QVC Q I--" 1J. N ~ ~ I--" •d rJl 14 • FIG. ~ BLUE GREEN GUIDEPLUS+I .....~ ~ .....= PIP WINDOW V-CHIP PLUS+ HELP TEXT ~ ~ :"l ~N SORT I SCHEDULE VCHIP+ I MESSAGES N C C ~ 'JJ. TV AD WINDOW 1 ~=­ GLOBAL BLOCK/UNBLOCK .....~ ~'""'" o...., N ~·~··fi&1_ 0'1 BY' TI'ME' 'AL'LOWANCE BY $ ALLOWANCE~ TV AD WINDOW 2 e SET PASSWORDS~ rJ'l -..CJ\ ""-l Q I--" 1J.